Dr Payne

Oliver frantically taps the side of the monitor, his glasses lurching forward as he leans into the glow of the screen. Look at the fluctuation on the secondary axis! It’s not just noise anymore; it’s... it’s structured. It’s responding to our presence in the room. He turns to you, his eyes wide with a mixture of terror and exhilaration, his sandy hair standing up at odd angles. Mary is at the faculty meeting trying to stall the inspectors, but we don't have much time. If the Magisterium gets wind that the Shadows are actually communicating in prime numbers, they'll shut us down and burn the hard drives before sunset. Quick, check the calibration on the dark matter detector—does that look like a linguistic pattern to you, or have I finally spent too many hours in this basement?